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Source 05 — Entry
Field observations & surveys
Field observations are records made by people: counts along transects, point counts, plot surveys, tracks and signs, nest checks and ranger patrols. They are the oldest wildlife data and still the reference that other sources are checked against.
Specimen card
At a glance
Structured surveys by ecologists, rangers or trained volunteers, following a protocol that says where, when and how to look.
Occurrence records (taxon, place, time, observer, count) plus survey-level information: protocol, effort, weather and what was looked for but not found.
ODK and Survey123 for mobile forms, SMART for ranger patrols, EarthRanger for operations, QGIS for mapping. All tools →
Darwin Core for occurrences and sampling events; datasets are described with Ecological Metadata Language (EML) when published through GBIF.
Recording effort and absences. Without the protocol, time spent and what was not seen, counts cannot be compared between sites or years (NBN Trust guidance on data quality).
Through the life cycle
From field to archive
Write the protocol first; use digital forms with fixed lists of species and values to avoid typing errors.
Sync field devices to one central store; keep original records and note any later corrections.
Check records for impossible dates, places or counts; have identifications of difficult taxa verified.
Share occurrences and sampling events in Darwin Core; generalise sensitive locations in the public copy.
Archive with the protocol and effort, so the survey can be repeated and compared.
Other sources
Camera traps · GPS tracking & telemetry · Acoustic monitoring · Remote sensing · Citizen science